-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The president of the Maldives , one of the world 's most popular honeymoon destinations , resigned Tuesday after a revolt by police officers , his spokesman said , leaving the normally idyllic chain of islands in chaos .

Mohamed Nasheed was the first democratically elected president of the Indian Ocean nation in three decades .

`` This morning , about 500 opposition supporters along with some Islamic hardliners protested outside the army headquarters , shouting slogans , and some police officers mutinied and joined them , '' Nasheed 's spokeman said . `` And so , the president was in a situation where he could either tell the army to forcibly crack down on the protesters or he could step down . He chose the latter .

`` This is a situation where the first democratically elected president in the Maldives is taken down by a former dictator and his supporters , '' the spokesman said .

Nasheed said in a nationally televised address that he was stepping down because he did n't feel he was able to maintain security and peace in the country , which attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year .

Strategically located in the Indian Ocean but extremely poor , the country is threatened by rising sea levels . Nasheed once held a Cabinet meeting underwater , with ministers wearing scuba gear , to highlight the problem .

Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan was sworn in as president shortly after Nasheed resigned .

But journalist Sumon Chakrabarti , who is at work on a book about the Maldives , suggested Hassan is a puppet who would not last .

`` He comes from a very small political party . He 's respected as an academic '' but has little support of his own , Chakrabarti said . `` I doubt how long they will allow this man to remain in power . ''

Chakrabarti said he felt the coup was `` the end of democracy in the Maldives . It throws the whole notion of democracy out of the window . ''

And that is a cause for international concern , he said .

`` Here was the country 's first democratically elected president and he was forced to resign by a cocktail of religious extremists , the brother of the former president ... forces like businessmen who are also members of Parliament , and then the police force , which was always loyal to the former dictator , '' he said .

The police officers appeared to have sided with the Progressive Party , which is loyal to former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom , who ruled Maldives for 30 years before Nasheed defeated him .

Nasheed had faced strong criticism in recent months from opposition groups calling for Islam to play a greater role in the running of the country , spurred in part by the supporters of Gayoom .

The country is more than 98 % Muslim , according to a 2011 Pew Forum report on the global Muslim population .

The coup signals a rise in extremism , Chakrabarti said . `` It 's going from being one of the most moderate Muslim nations on Earth towards extremism , '' he said .

The different political parties in the country , an archipelago of almost 1,200 coral islands south-southwest of India , planned to meet Tuesday afternoon to discuss the next step , said Bunya Maumoon , a spokeswoman for the Progressive Party .

In 2008 , Nasheed became the country 's first democratically elected president in 30 years .

The nation was rocked by violent protests last year that Nasheed accused Gayoom 's supporters of orchestrating . But demonstrators said at the time they were protesting economic conditions , created by reforms imposed by Nasheed .

The government also clashed with opposition groups in December over the issues of massage parlors and the sale of pork and alcohol in resorts .

Tuesday 's events unfolded after about 200 policemen gathered in Republic Square in the capital , Male , according to Ahmed Rasheed , an executive producer at the state TV station .

A peaceful standoff with members of the Maldives defense forces in the square turned violent early Tuesday morning , he said , describing the situation in Male as `` chaos . ''

The policemen took over the state TV station later Tuesday morning . They changed its name from the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation back to its old name , Television Maldives .

Gayoom is still considered a hero by many in Maldives who credit him for transforming a fishing culture into a tourist nation .

During his long rule , Nasheed was among his fiercest critics , alleging that Gayoom ruled with an iron fist , crushing dissent , amassing wealth and stacking his administration with friends and relatives .

Nasheed was arrested as a journalist several times and held as a political prisoner .

Until his defeat by Nasheed , Gayoom won six previous elections as the only candidate on the ballot .

He had sought a seventh five-year term , saying that he would need a few more years to see through the reforms he has put in place .

Maldives is also grappling with a very likely possibility that it will go under water if the current pace of climate change keeps raising sea levels .

Most of it lies just 4.9 feet -LRB- 1.5 meters -RRB- above sea

The United Nations ' Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change has forecast a rise in sea levels of at least 7.1 inches -LRB- 18 cm -RRB- by the end of the century .

Male is already protected by sea walls . But creating a similar barrier around the rest of the country will be cost-prohibitive .

Soon after his election , Nasheed raised the possibility of finding a new homeland for the country 's approximately 400,000 residents .

He is the subject of an upcoming documentary , `` The Island President , '' that tells the story of his efforts to raise awareness of climate change .

CNN 's Sarita Harilela , Sumnima Das and Judy Kwon contributed to this report .

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NEW : The Maldives is going from moderate Islam towards extremism , an analyst says

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NEW : The vice president is sworn in as president , a TV broadcast shows

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The country 's political parties will meet later Tuesday to consider next steps

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Spokesman : Nasheed chose to step down rather than have the army to crack down